In one of his first calls to a foreign leader since taking office, Trump and Netanyahu have 'very nice' phone call as embassy speculation swirlsnpr.org

2017.01.25

Leaked draft documents suggest Trump plans to reduce the role of US at the United Nations, including drastic funding cuts ("at least 40% overall) to international organizations, and review all current and pending multilateral agreements. Countries that support the Palestine Authority will be targeted for funding cuts.nytimes.com(See also United Nations)

2017.01.28

After Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his support for Trump's border wall. Mexico issued a statement expressing, "its profound astonishment, rejection and disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu's message on Twitter about the construction of a border wall."reuters.com(See also Mexico Wall)

Mexico's government rebuked Israel on Saturday for a tweet by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that appeared to applaud U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a border wall with Mexico to keep o…

The statement signals that the new administration will seek continuity with past presidents marking a step away from what he has said in the past.

2017.02.03

Trump policy on Israel is evolving in somewhat surprising ways, saying while existing settlements are not an obstacle to peace, it will not provide a blank check for new construction.washingtonpost.com(See also First 100 Days)

2017.02.10

Nikki Haley blocks the appointment of Salam Fayyad, former Palestinian prime minister, for a senior U.N. position as envoy to Libya in a move intended to signal U.S. support for Israel and its defense of the position that there is no Palestinian state.nytimes.com(See also United Nations, Nikki Haley)

2017.02.15

In joint remarks by Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, Trump says, "I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one." The entirety of his remarks are very unclear, but analysts seem to feel he was stepping back from a two-state solution in Israel.whitehouse.gov

2017.02.15

Palestinian officials ask the White House not to abandon the two-state solution for a possible peace deal with Israel after Trump signaled he could "live with" other outcomes.washingtonpost.com(See also First 100 Days, Palestine)

Trump on Wednesday dropped a U.S. commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the longstanding bedrock of Washington's Middle East policy.reuters.com(See also First 100 Days)

2017.02.16

Nikki Haley issues a statement on Israel following a security council meeting at the United Nations:. "I’m here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I’m here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias."unwatch.org(See also Nikki Haley, United Nations)

Nikki Haley and other world leaders condemn a report issued by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia claiming that Israel is imposing an apartheid regime on Palestinians. The report is pulled and Under-Secretary General Rima Khalaf resigns.reuters.com(See also United Nations, Nikki Haley)

Jared Kushner failed to disclose his role as a co-director of the Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation from 2006 to 2015, a time when the group funded an Israeli settlement considered to be illegal under international law, on financial records he filed with the Office of Government Ethics earlier this year.newsweek.com(See also Jared Kushner, Unprecedented Actions, False Statements)

Yet another omission was discovered on Jared Kushner’s financial disclosure forms Friday, as news broke of his reported involvement in attempting to sway a U.N. Security Council vote before Donald Trump became president.

Defying every major ally besides Israel, Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as its capital, breaking a longstanding international consensus to refrain from doing this until Israel brokers a peace agreement with the Palestinians.buzzfeed.com(See also Unprecedented Actions, Foreign Policy)

2017.12.05

Donald Trump plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the American Embassy there, upending nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and potentially destroying his efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.nytimes.com(See also Unprecedented Actions, Jared Kushner, Muslims)

2017.12.21

The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.theguardian.com(See also Foreign Policy)

2018.01.07

Last May, Jared Kushner accompanied President Trump, his father-in-law, on the pair’s first diplomatic trip to Israel, part of Mr. Kushner’s White House assignment to achieve peace in the Middle East, just after his family real estate company received a roughly $30 million investment from Menora Mivtachim, an insurer that is one of Israel’s largest financial institutions, according to a Menora executive.nytimes.com(See also Conflicts of Interest, Corruption, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump)

In May, the head of Pruitt’s security detail recommended he travel either business or first class whenever possible to avoid public confrontations with critics.

2018.02.27

Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter.washingtonpost.com(See also Jared Kushner, Nepotism, Corruption, Foreign Policy, China, Mexico)

Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said.

2018.05.01

The Trump administration embraced Israel's claims that Iran entered a nuclear deal with the world's major powers under false pretenses, a start divergence from its European allies, who said the disclosures broke little new ground and reinforced, rather than weakened, the case for the 2015 deal.nytimes.com(See also Reversals, Iran)

2018.05.14

A Dallas evangelical pastor who once said that Jewish people are going to hell and a megachurch televangelist who claimed that Hitler was part of God’s plan to return Jews to Israel both played prominent roles on Monday in the opening ceremony of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem.nytimes.com(See also Anti-Semitism)

2018.05.19

Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son: an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation, an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes, and a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.nytimes.com(See also Donald Trump Jr, Russia, Legal Issues, 2016 Campaign, Russian Meddling in Election)

The meetings are the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to the Trump campaign.